Population Ecology

Which of these species typically has a mortality rate that remains fairly constant over an individual's life span?

A. Humans

B. Oysters

C. Grasses

D. Robins

E. Elephants

Robins

Oyster populations are primarily, if not exclusively, composed of _____.

A. Larval and juvenile oysters

B. Adults

C. Prereproductive oysters

D. Larvae

E. Juveniles

Adults

Which of these organisms has a survivorship curve similar to that of oysters?

A. Cats

B. Humans

C. Grasses

D. Robins

E. Elephants

Grasses

Which of these organisms has a survivorship curve similar to that of humans?

A. Robins

B. Cats

C. Elephants

D. Oysters

E. Grasses

Elephants

You are doing a mark-recapture experiment to determine the population size of the MendAliens living on an island in my back yard. Initially, you catch and mark 130 MendAliens, which you then release. Next, you capture 90 MendAliens, of which 20 are marked. What is your estimate of the population size of MendAliens living on the island in my back yard?

A. 130

B. 234,000

C. 29

D. 14

E. 585

585

Assume there are 200 MendAliens living on an island in my back yard. If my island has an area of 20 hectares, what is the population density of MendAliens in terms of MendAliens per hectare?

A. 4 MendAliens per hectare

B. 4,000 MendAliens per hectare

C. 0.1 MendAliens per hectare

D. 200 MendAliens per hectare

E. 10 MendAliens per hectare

10 MendAliens per hectare

The mark-recapture method would be best for sampling a population of _____.

A. Maple trees

B. Oysters

C. Wheat

D. Sharks

E. Rose bushes

Sharks

A population is correctly defined as having which of the following characteristics?

I. inhabiting the same general area

II. individuals belonging to the same species

III. possessing a constant and uniform density and dispersion

A. III only

B. I only

C. I and II only

D. II and III only

E. I, II, and III

I and II only

An ecologist recorded 12 white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, per square mile in one woodlot and 20 per square mile on another woodlot. What was the ecologist comparing?

A. Quadrats

B. Carrying capacity

C. Density

D. Dispersion

E. Range

Density

To measure the population density of monarch butterflies occupying a particular park, 100 butterflies are captured, marked with a small dot on a wing, and then released. The next day, another 100 butterflies are captured, including the recapture of 20 marked butterflies. One would estimate the population to be

A. 900,000

B. 1,000

C. 10,000

D. 500

E. 200

500

The most common kind of dispersion in nature is

A. Dispersive

B. Clumped

C. Indeterminate

D. Uniform

E. Random

Clumped

Uniform spacing patterns in plants such as the creosote bush are most often associated with

A. Chance

B. The random distribution of seeds

C. Patterns of high humidity

D. The concentration of nutrients within the population's range

E. Competitive interactions among individuals in the population

Competitive interactions among individuals in the population

Which of the following groups would be most likely to exhibit uniform dispersion?

A. Red squirrels, who actively defend territories

B. Moths in a city at night

C. Dwarf mistletoes, which parasitize particular species of forest tree

D. Lake trout, which seek out deep water

E. Cattails, which grow primarily at edges of lakes and streams

Red squirrels, who actively defend territories

A table listing such items as age, observed number of organisms alive each year, and life expectancy is known as a (an)

A. Mortality table

B. Life table

C. Insurance table

D. Survivorship table

E. Rate table

Life table

Life tables are most useful in determining which of the following?

A. Carrying capacity

B. Reproductive rates

C. Immigration and emigration rates

D. The fate of a cohort of newborn organisms throughout their lives

E. Population dispersion patterns

The fate of a cohort of newborn organisms throughout their lives

To measure the population of lake trout in a 250 hectare lake, 200 individuals were netted and marked with a fin clip, and then returned to the lake. The next week, the lake is netted again, and out of the 200 lake trout that are caught, 50 have fin clips. Using the capture-recapture estimate, the lake trout population size could be closest to which of the following?

A. 800

B. 40,000

C. 200

D. 400

E. 250

800

Which of the following assumptions have to be made regarding the capture-recapture estimate of population size?

I. Marked and unmarked individuals have the same probability of being trapped.

II. The marked individuals have thoroughly mixed with population after being marked.

III. No individuals have entered or left the population by immigration or emigration, and no individuals have been added by birth or eliminated by death during the course of the estimate.

A. I only

B. I and II only

C. II only

D. II and III only

E. I, II, and III

I, II, and III

Demography is the study of

A. Life expectancy of individuals within a population

B. The survival patterns of a population

C. Death and emigration rates of a population at any moment in time

D. Reproductive rates of a population during a given year

E. The vital statistics of populations and how they change over time

The vital statistics of populations and how they change over time

Natural selection has led to the evolution of diverse natural history strategies, which have in common

A. Many offspring per reproductive episode

B. Maximum lifetime reproductive success

C. Adaptation to stable environments

D. Relatively large offspring

E. Limitation only by density-independent limiting factors

Maximum lifetime reproductive success

A population of ground squirrels has an annual per capita birth rate of 0.06 and an annual per capita death rate of 0.02. Estimate the number of individuals added to (or lost from) a population of 1,000 individuals in one year.

A. 120 individuals added

B. 400 individuals added

C. 20 individuals lost

D. 40 individuals added

E. 20 individuals added

40 individuals added

Imagine that you are managing a large ranch. You know from historical accounts that wild sheep used to live there, but they have been extirpated. You decide to reintroduce them. After doing some research to determine what might be an appropriately sized founding population, you do so. You then watch the population increase for several generations, and graph the number of individuals (vertical axis) against the number of generations (horizontal axis). The graph will appear as

A. An "S," increasing with each generation

B. "J," increasing with each generation

C. An upside-down "U"

D. A diagonal line, getting higher with each generation

E. An "S" that ends with a vertical line

A "J," increasing with each generation

In the logistic equation dN/dt= rN (K-N)

K, r is a measure of the population's intrinsic rate of increase. It is determined by which of the following?

A. Dispersion

B. Birth rate and death rates

C. Density

D. Carrying capacity

E. Life history

Birth rate and death rates

Exponential growth of a population is represented by

A. rN (K+N)

B. rN

K

C. rN (K-N)

K

D. rN

E. rN (N-K)

K

rN

Logistic growth of a population is represented by dN/dt =

A. rN

K

B. rN (N-K)

K

C. rN (K+N)

D. rN (K-N)

K

E. rN

rN (K-N)

K

As N approaches K for a certain population, which of the following is predicted by the logistic equation?

A. The carrying capacity of the environment will increase

B. The population will show an Allee effect

C. The population will increase exponentially

D. The growth rate will approach zero

E. The growth rate will not change

The growth rate will approach zero

Your friend comes to you with a problem. It seems his shrimp boats aren't catching nearly as much shrimp as they used to. He can't understand why because originally he caught all the shrimp he could handle. Each year he added a new boat, and for a long time each boat caught tons of shrimp. As he added more boats, there came a time when each boat caught somewhat fewer shrimp, and now, each boat is catching a lot less shrimp. Which of the following topics might help your friend understand the source of his problem?

A. Density-independent population regulation and chance occurrence

B. Pollution effects of a natural environment and learned shrimp behavior

C. Density-dependent population regulation and intrinsic characteristics of population growth

D. A K-selected population switching to an r-selected population

E. Exponential growth curves and unlimited environmental resources

Density-dependent population regulation and intrinsic characteristics of population growth

Carrying capacity is

A. Fixed for most species over most of their range most of the time

B. Seldom reached by marine producers and consumers because of the vast resources of the ocean

C. The maximum population size that a particular environment can support

D. Determined by density and dispersion data

E. The term used to describe the stress a population undergoes due to limited resources

The maximum population size that a particular environment can support

Which of the following can contribute to density-dependent regulation of populations?

A. Floods

B. Weather catastrophes

C. Intraspecific competition for nutrients

D. Earthquakes

E. The removal of toxic waste by decomposers

Intraspecific competition for nutrients

Why is territoriality an adaptive behavior for songbirds maintaining populations at or near their carrying capacity?

A. Songbirds make improvements to the territories they inhabit so that they can all enjoy larger clutches and successfully fledged chicks

B. Songbirds expend a tremendous amount of energy defending territories so that they spend less time feeding their young and fledgling mortality increases

C. Songbird males defend territories commensurate with the size from which they can derive adequate resources for themselves, their mate, and their chicks

D. Many individuals are killed in the ritualistic conflicts that go along with territorial defense

E. Only the fittest males defend territories and they attract the fittest females so the best genes are conveyed to the next generation

Songbird males defend territories

Ignoring migration, the age structure of a human population likely to increase in size will have what shape?

A. Inverted pyramid

B. Both a pyramid and a rectangle tapering toward the top result in a population that increases in size

C. Both an inverted pyramid and a rectangle tapering toward the top result in a population that increases in size

D. A rectangle tapering toward the top

E. Pyramid

Pyramid

Ignoring migration, the age structure of a human population likely to decrease in size will have what shape?

A. A rectangle tapering toward the top

B. Pyramid

C. Both an inverted pyramid and a rectangle tapering toward the top result in a population that decreases in size

D. Both a pyramid and a rectangle tapering toward the top result in a population that decreases in size

E. Inverted pyramid

Inverted pyramid

Ignoring migration, the age structure diagram of a human population likely to maintain a relatively stable size will have what shape?

A. Inverted pyramid

B. Both a pyramid and a rectangle tapering toward the top result in a population that remains stable in size

C. A rectangle tapering toward the top

D. Pyramid

E. Both an inverted pyramid and a rectangle tapering toward the top result in a population that remains stable in size

A rectangle tapering toward the top

Which of the following is a density-independent factor limiting human population growth?

A. Earthquakes

B. Pollution

C. Social pressure for birth control

D. Plagues

E. Famines

Earthquakes

Consider several human populations of equal size and net reproductive rate, but different in age structure. The population that is likely to grow the most during the next 30 years is the one with the greatest fraction of people in which age range?

A. 30 to 40 years

B. 40 to 50 years

C. 10 to 20 years

D. 50 to 60 years

E. 20 to 30 years

10 to 20 years